Mayor Bloomberg said last week he would urge the MTA to consider developing a bike and pedestrian way on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The mayor is virtually campaigning in NYC’s boroughs these days, and such a facility would be very popular on Staten Island and in southern Brooklyn.

The MTA has generally opposed the suggestion in the past — last week, it cited cost and security issues. But the mayor debunked any security concern, noting most major bridges in and around the city provide pedestrian/cyclist access. The MTA provides a walkway over the Triborough Bridge.

A 1997 study by the firm that designed the bridge, Ammann and Whitney, confirmed that it could be outfitted with twin 10-foot wide pathways between the suspender cables on the outer edges of the Verrazano’s upper deck. The study was commissioned by the NYC Dept. of City Planning after an advocacy campaign by Transportation Alternatives and Bay Ridge civic leaders.

The MTA was hostile to the idea and the study. The City Planning Dept., perhaps receiving signals from Mayor Giuliani, downplayed the study findings when it was published (see MTR #127).

The most likely way fund such a project would be Congressional earmarks in the eventual reauthorization of U.S. transportation programs. Federal transportation funding is in an interim stage, but when it resumes deliberations on a large multi-year transportation spending package, Mayor Bloomberg can follow up his suggestion with serious conversations with Congressman Fossella and members of the Brooklyn House delegation.

MTR back issues:

Go to index of all Mobilizing the Region back issues